Fewer MS Coast students had COVID last week, but doctor warns about severe sickness
There were 469 Coast students that tested positive for COVID-19 last week, according to the state health department’s latest data, as medical experts continue to warn of the delta variant’s serious implications in children.
According to a Sun Herald analysis of the Mississippi State Department of Health’s weekly report on COVID-19 cases and quarantine numbers at schools, 813 students and 47 staff were in quarantine across Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties, one of the lowest counts since the school year started about a month ago.
But during a live Q&A with the Sun Herald on Wednesday, Singing River Pediatric Hospitalist Dr. Tyler Sexton said that children are requiring more inpatient care because of the severity of the delta variant in younger patients, which is different from what medical professionals had seen in previous waves.
“A year ago, I would say it was a blessing to be a kid,” Sexton. “Because COVID-19 didn’t really affect children the way we’re seeing it now. Still, the vast majority in the clinical setting, outpatient, still do well,” Sexton said.
“The difference that you’re seeing with this delta wave, however, is how much more it affects these kids, how much more severe. A year ago, next to none were getting admitted… now you’re seeing a lot more affected that require inpatient. More of the bronchiolitis and the respiratory distress.”
When the number of positive cases is five or less, the department of health lists the figure as “1-5” to protect individual privacy. The Sun Herald used that information to calculate lower- and upper-end possibilities for the number of COVID-positive students and staff in each county.
Positive cases among students ranged from 225 to 469.
The health department defines an “outbreak” as three or more cases in the same group setting, like a classroom or sports team. A school can have multiple cases but no outbreaks if the cases are spread across different groups.
Here’s what we learned for each county.
Hancock County schools
- Students testing positive: 26-62
- Staff testing positive: 2-10
- Number of new outbreaks: 1
- Staff in quarantine: 4
- Students in quarantine: 98
Hancock High reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases among students with 9. Hancock Middle School followed with 8.
Twenty-one of East Hancock Elementary School’s 683 students were quarantined last week. Hancock North Central Elementary School had 19 students quarantined with 1-5 positive, while West Hancock Elementary School had 17 students quarantined with 1-5 positive.
Harrison County schools
- Students testing positive: 110-230
- Staff testing positive: 20-100
- Number of new outbreaks: 10
- Staff in quarantine: 17
- Students in quarantine: 461
The largest number of student cases was reported at Biloxi High School, with 16 of the about 1,738 students testing positive last week. At West Harrison High School of roughly 1,112 students, 13 students tested positive.
W. J. Quarles Elementary School in Long Beach had the largest number of students, 52, quarantined because of exposure to COVID, though they only reported 1-5 positive students. No teachers were positive or exposed. The school is about 505 students large.
North Woolmarket Elementary and Middle School in Biloxi had the next largest number of students in quarantine, with 33, of the about 989 children quarantined for exposure to the virus. Only 1-5 students and 1-5 staff were positive for COVID last week, and no teachers were quarantined due to exposure.
Jackson County schools
- Students testing positive: 89-177
- Staff testing positive: 8-40
- Number of new outbreaks: 43
- Staff in quarantine: 26
- Students in quarantine: 254
The largest number of positive cases among students last week was reported at St. Martin Middle School, with 20 cases among about 1,250 students, with five students in quarantine because of exposure. East Central Middle School reported 11 cases among about 658 students.
The largest number of students in quarantine was 40, at Escatawpa Upper Elementary School in Moss Point, which has about 387 students. Gautier High School had 36 of about 900 students in quarantine.
Although at least 61 and as many as 97 Jackson County School District students tested positive for COVID-19 last week, 35 students were quarantined and one staff member.
Jackson County schools, one of two Coast districts that does not mandate masks, have been subject to controversy in the past month as its shifting policies allow for students not isolating in school if they are symptom-free after exposure to the virus.
The health department recommends all unvaccinated close contacts of someone who tests positive quarantine.
During a Sept. 14 school board meeting, Superintendent John Strycker said less than 1% of the student body was out of school in a two-week time period, down from 1.87% last week, 4.21% two weeks ago, and 6.42% three weeks ago.
“We are truly blessed to have 93% of our 9,000 students in school today with only under 1% out with COVID,” said Strycker of the report. “Nonetheless, I am very saddened over the losses we have experienced in our school community as a result of the COVID disease, so it is with mixed emotions that I present this data,” he said.
This article and live event is supported by the Journalism and Public Information Fund, a fund of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation.
This story was originally published September 17, 2021 at 5:50 AM.
